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Does the Codex need a G.U.R.P.S. thread?

GURPS thread


  • Total voters
    21

Mortmal

Arcane
Joined
Jun 15, 2009
Messages
9,158
Threads appeared by themselves when people play those games. Guess what, no one play that anymore. Its a question of fashion, nothing more.
 

Mortmal

Arcane
Joined
Jun 15, 2009
Messages
9,158
What is so special about G.U.R.P.S.?
Cause fallout use something similar, people used to talk about that game here. Plenty of rulesets like this that could be used for crpgs, but none doing it , none wants our money.
 

Corvinus

Arcane
Joined
Oct 12, 2011
Messages
1,969
Cause fallout use something similar, people used to talk about that game here. Plenty of rulesets like this that could be used for crpgs, but none doing it , none wants our money.


Something similar would be the S.P.E.C.I.A.L system, based off G.U.R.P.S. and named after the attributes:

Strength
Perception
Endurance
Charisma
Intelligence
Agility
Luck

Attention spans are short these days, so perhaps a four attribute system would be less intimidating to the current developer:

Robustness
Alacrity
Personality
Endowment
 

Cryomancer

Arcane
Glory to Ukraine
Joined
Jul 11, 2019
Messages
14,466
Location
Frostfell
What is so special about G.U.R.P.S.?

You can easily play anything with GURPS.

From a caveman, with almost no tech and no magic to a space technomancer with in control of a spacefleet researching other dimensional stuff. GURPS is also the most "simulationistic" of all TT RPG's. Not mentioning that GURPS rule system "encourages" having character flaws which makes characters more interesting. Even on D&D, one caster archetype that I love is the chaotic high int, low wis/low dex archetype, even if DEX makes me more likely to miss my ranged touch attacks and reduces my AC on 3E games.
 

Grunker

RPG Codex Ghost
Patron
Joined
Oct 19, 2009
Messages
27,385
Location
Copenhagen
GURPS and SPECIAL have nothing to do with each other beyond the fact that Fallout was originally going to use GURPS. Besides that extremely tangential piece of trivia, and I guess the fact that neither are class-based, there are 0 similarities.

As for what's special about GURPS, the universality is one thing, but what I personally really enjoy is how the point system makes a great foundation for making an actual character with a set unique personality traits, strengths and weaknesses.
 

L'ennui

Magister
Joined
Apr 6, 2009
Messages
3,256
Location
Québec, Amérique du Nord
GURPS can create characters in any type of setting that would be sufficiently detailed and nuanced to be novel protagonists *IF YOU WANT TO GO TO THAT LEVEL OF DETAIL, WHICH YOU DON'T HAVE TO*. You can also whip up the equivalent of a D&D hireling in a few minutes using a template or a simplified form of character creation. Its default rules produce a high degree of verisimilitude, so that your game can produce results that seem realistic at a glance (given the constraints of the game world). You can fine-tune those rules to produce more cinematic/unrealistic results, or more realistic(ish) results, albeit at the cost of added complexity.

Its core mechanics are not really complicated (90 % of actions are resolved by rolling 3d6 and hoping for a result below your relevant skill level, plus or minus situational modifiers), but character creation can be intimidating if your GM doesn't curate the list of available traits, advantages, disadvantages, powers, etc. Once characters are created, it's a rules-medium game at most unless you use optional systems to add more details to combat, in which case it can go quite crunchy and detailed.

Beyond the genre-neutral character creation and basic rules, there are lots and lots of supplements that provide specific and optional rules add-ons for various types of games, i.e. spaceship creation and combat, realm management, social engineering, mass combat. This helps give campaigns featuring those aspects a more "bespoke" feel, albeit again at the cost of increased rules complexity. Running games with too many "subsystems" attached would probably be very unwieldy, and unfortunately there does not seem to be a well-developed technological framework to aid running such games.

I like GURPS, but it's not an easy game to propose to new players and setting up campaigns can be a lot of work if you want some of the more detailed rules options.
 

Stella Brando

Arcane
Joined
Oct 5, 2005
Messages
8,968
Location
Castle Volkihar
I din't do nothing, I just asked if GURPS was worth discussing
sad.gif
 

Silva

Arcane
Joined
Jul 17, 2005
Messages
4,778
Location
Rio de Janeiro, Brasil
I din't do nothing, I just asked if GURPS was worth discussing
sad.gif
Sigh..... okay I can't resist a woman crying.

Gurps is fine, I've played the hell out of it when I was 13 or something. Point-buy chargen is a chore but the game actually runs fine. We played in "GURPS Banestorm" and "Transhuman Space" settings, besides a couple homebrewed games. It was fun, but these days I would only play it with pregens as I don't have patience for hours long chargen anymore.
 

nikolokolus

Arcane
Joined
May 8, 2013
Messages
4,090
I think the best part about GURPS was the source books; easily some of the best researched game supplements I've ever owned and easy to port to other games.

I never did run or play in a game, as nobody I knew had the inclination to try it, but I think the system looks completely usable if you don't mind hacking it to get the toolkit you want (and if you like spending a lot of time in chargen).
 

Stella Brando

Arcane
Joined
Oct 5, 2005
Messages
8,968
Location
Castle Volkihar
I'm kind of in the same situation, I just read GURPS: Swashbucklers because I thought it looked interesting.

It has rules for making ching ching ching rapier-fighting characters, as well as information about pirates, musketeers, highwaymen, and Europe and the New World in the 16- and 1700's. All the information is presented in an easy to read way, and the book is well laid-out and fully-illustrated.

It's a perfect book for Princess Bride or Pirates of the Caribbean style adventures, and I would definitely read more handbooks from GURPS.

231803.jpg
 

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